More Late Night Musings
by MzDany
Summary: Cam and Hunter are sharing some thoughts during a particular night. Slash CamHunter


A/N: This was supposed to be another drabble for "Late Night Musings", but it grew kind of long, therefore I made it a separate ficlet. So now this is story #9 of my Cam/Hunter series.  
For Dannie (CamFan),since it's her birthday and because she's been reading my stuff since day 1. (Literally – she was my first reviewer!)

**More Late Night Musings  
**By Dany  
PG-13

Summary: Cam and Hunter are sharing some thoughts during a particular night.

He woke up to the sensation of emptiness beside him. During the past year he had become so in-tuned to having _him_ sleeping close that having that comforting presence gone for any extended period of time usually awoke him - a fact which made a restful sleep very hard on the nights they weren't together.

Hunter opened his eyes, giving them a moment to adjust to the darkness before he scanned the murky room. Cam would either be in the bathroom or…_ah_.

He saw him standing at the other possible spot – by the window. A location he had found his partner in many times over the last twelve months. Cam was prone to occasional bouts of insomnia – a lingering aftereffect of too many late nights spent working on fixing Zords, Gliders and other Ranger equipment.

The former Samurai Ranger was barefooted and bare-chested, wearing only green pajama bottoms. The silvery moonlight lit up his half-turned face, emphasizing the 'deep-thought' look in his partner's one visible eye. It also illuminated the rest of him in a most flattering way and Hunter found himself momentarily immobilized, just soaking in the sight from a few yards away.

Cam was beautiful. Were he aware of Hunter's thoughts, he certainly would have made a face and said - in his usual, sarcastic way - something like _'Girls _are beautiful, Hunter_.'_ And he would have been right, of course. It was really too feminine a word, but Hunter settled for it anyways. Until he found a more appropriate word for his partner, _beautiful _would have to do, for merely _handsome_ just didn't seem to describe Cam adequately.

_Love is a strange emotion_, Hunter mused as he continued to watch his partner gaze out the window. The immense love he felt for Cam had not come overnight; it had developed gradually. One major turning point in their relationship had been when Cam had taken action to help Hunter get to the bottom of his lifelong nightmares. With Sensei's help, they had coaxed the reason for his recurring bad dreams out of him, and Cam had been by his side the whole way. (X) That night, Hunter had gone from having sex to making love, and it had never been just sex ever since.

Hunter could feel a change in Cam, too. Now that the samurai was comfortable with the physical intimacy between them, he was making a noticeable effort of deepening the intimacy of their minds. Hunter was grateful for that; it showed him that Cam was as serious about them as he was. A damn good feeling indeed.

The figure by the window shifted slightly. Hunter was surprised to see Cam up tonight. He had seemed exhausted earlier on – and with good reason, for they had had a long and busy few days.

A week ago, Cam had signed on the dotted line of a very official purchase agreement – effectively buying the two-bedroom house in Blue Bay Harbor they had selected after a few weeks of house-shopping. That itself had been exhausting; they had looked at dozens of properties before they finally agreed on this quaint, white clapboard and stucco house with its decorative palm tree in the backyard. It wasn't anything too fancy, but it was in a respectable area of town and it was in their price range. Yesterday they had finished the tedious chore of re-painting the inside and had bought the most necessary furniture and appliances. They were ready to move.

And move they would – tomorrow. Actually later on today, Hunter concluded after a quick look at his watch. 1.30am.

They would retain their offices at their respective schools, but their private lives would finally be led off-site. Most of their stuff and Cam's computer equipment was already at the house; right now only two more dufflebags were sitting by the door. All they had to do later was take the sheets off the bed and they were ready to move off the academy grounds and into their house.

_Their_ house. Well, officially it was Cam's house, since they weren't married and Hunter, after growing up in a ninja academy that officially didn't exist, did not exactly have the established credit rating it took to make such a purchase. But Cam had repeatedly assured him that this was only a formality and that it was indeed their house.

Hunter was excited. Apart from his and Blake's brief stay at a dilapidated apartment building in Blue Bay Harbor where the landlord had cared more about timely payments than about proper identification, he had never lived off academy grounds –_ninja ops was still considered academy grounds in his mind _– so life in their own house was a huge step.

And the fact that their move coincided with their first anniversary was a very nice bonus. Housewarming _and _anniversary party. Two parties for the price of one!

Hunter grinned, rose, and with Cam's crimson/green comforter draped over his shoulders, he padded over to the window.

Cam didn't turn, but he also never flinched when Hunter came up behind him and wrapped the comforter around them both. Instead, he simply leaned back into his lover's embrace.

"Just think," Hunter murmured, his mouth close to Cam's ear, "tomorrow, if you can't sleep again, at least you can stare out into your own backyard."

Cam chuckled. "I dunno, between the housewarming party and breaking in our new bed, I think I'll be pretty wiped out."

"Mmmm, I like the _breaking in the bed_ part." Hunter was just nibbling on Cam's earlobe when he suddenly noticed that his partner was holding something small and rectangular in his hand. A picture? Hunter peered over the samurai's shoulder, trying to get a better look. "What's this?"

Cam raised the picture a few inches. "Sometimes I wonder where the time has gone," he said quietly. "Seems so much has changed since then."

Hunter looked down onto the photograph. It showed a scene he remembered very well. The six of them in Ninja Ops, posing for the camera with their arms around each others' shoulders, goofy grins on all of their faces. Hunter had looked at it himself countless times when it was still tacked over Cam's desk and every time he was amused at how they had all subconsciously positioned themselves just right: Cam was on the far left with Hunter right next to him. Blake was on the other side of him, flanked by Tori who had Shane hanging over her left shoulder, who in turn was half-straddled by Dustin who was holding up two fingers 'bunny-ears' style behind Shane's head.

It had been taken by CyberCam a few days before the US Action Games. A little over a year ago – and yes, a lot of things had changed since then.

Hunter nuzzled Cam's neck. "Are you getting all melancholic on me, dude?"

"If you're talking about whether I'm going to start talking about the 'good old days'…don't worry. I won't." Cam said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Comfortable and warm, they stood pressed up against each other, watching as a breeze ruffled the branches of the ancient cypress tree outside.

"At least not for a few years yet," Cam picked up the thread again. "But sometimes I like to just think about how far we've come since those days." He turned his head slightly, not far enough to make eye contact, but enough to let Hunter know to pay attention. "I mean you and me both head teachers of our schools, Shane and Dustin next to indispensable as teachers here at the Wind Academy, Blake and Tori married…"

"…you and me becoming uncles in a few months," Hunter added with a grin, causing Cam to smile as well. Tori and Blake had been married for seven months and had made the happy announcement about the impending family addition a few weeks ago. Hunter couldn't keep the silly grin off his face every time he thought about it.

"Well, technically, _you'll_ be the uncle," Cam pointed out, but Hunter just shook his head.

"Minor detail. Of course you'll be Uncle Cam."

Touched, Cam placed the picture onto the windowsill, then put his hand over Hunter's who automatically interlaced their fingers. Hunter looked down at their joined hands, running his thumb along the side of Cam's index finger, marveling at the smoothness of his skin. Hands that could pulverize a brick with one punch, yet were capable of so much tenderness…

He placed a kiss onto the samurai's neck. "And one day you'll be _Daddy_ Cam…"

At that, Hunter felt Cam stiffen just a bit, but that only made him hug is partner tighter. "Have you ever thought about adoption, Cam?"

The corners of Cam's mouth flicked upwards as he continued to look out into the night. "I don't know – who would want to adopt kids as old as us, Hunter? We'd never find parents."

"Dude, seriously." Hunter nudged him playfully from behind.

Cam suddenly turned his head so that their faces were only inches apart. "_You_ have obviously thought about it?"

"Yeah. It's a time-honored Bradley tradition, after all," Hunter said, but then turned serious. "The thought's been creeping up on me since Blake and Tori's announcement." He cocked his head, "I figured my niece or nephew should have some cousins."

"Plural?"

"Sure! Why not?"

Cam suddenly turned within Hunter's embrace, now fully facing him. "Do you know how hard it is for two gay men to adopt children? Especially when they're not even married?"

"All right, then let's…" Hunter began, but Cam quickly cut him off.

"Whoa, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. You are talking about some very important decisions here. Let's take things a little more…gradually, okay? Move in together first, see how this works out."

"I know it'll work out. You forget that I've practically lived with you in Ninja Ops." Hunter pointed out.

"In separate rooms, with Blake and Dad," Cam corrected him. "This is different. You never know, you might hate living with me after a while. I'm far from perfect; I have my quirks – quite a few."

"Don't I know," Hunter said with a fading, watered-down version of his crooked grin. "So this is what...a _No _for kids?"

"Definitely _not_ a No_,"_ Cam said sincerely. "More like a _let's wait and see for now_."

Hunter just nodded, not happy but resigned to his partner's logic. _Maybe Cam would agree to at least get a dog in the meantime…_

Cam was watching him intently. "Besides, Hunter, you're only twenty-one. You should be thinking about college first."

There was no answer right away. Cam narrowed his eyes. "You _have been_ thinking about that, haven't you?"

Hunter exhaled deliberately before he replied. "As a matter of fact, I have. And I've come to the conclusion that I just can't see myself sitting through three or four years of classes. I'm not a scholar like you, Cam. I'm much more…physical. I need action, work with my hands and body, you know…" Hunter's face held an almost imploring expression. "College is just too much theory for me."

"You don't want to leave Blue Bay Harbor," Cam concluded and Hunter's shoulders slumped at having been found out that quickly.

"That, too," he admitted.

Cam's brows furrowed. "I don't want to be the reason you are not going to pursue a college degree, Hunter."

Hunter was quick to shake his head. "No, that's not it. I told you – four years is just too long for me to be studying _anything_. I guess I'm too impatient for that."

"So what do you want to do?" Cam wanted to know. "Stay at the Thunder academy forever?"

Hunter didn't reply right away. Instead, he looked past Cam and out the window into the darkness. Cam waited, sensing that he was about to hear something important.

After a long moment, Hunter began to speak.

"I've been thinking about that – about the future, you know – and I was thinking maybe I would open a dojo in town."

Cam blinked, momentarily taken aback. "A dojo?" he repeated somewhat incredulously, but even as he said it, the possibility was already taking shape in his head. Not downright impossible…

"Yeah," Hunter said quickly, blue eyes all of a sudden sparkling with animation. "Think about it…Blue Bay Harbor only has one other martial arts school, so the market would be there. Blake's been doing really good financially with Factory Blue, so he could advance me the money for a down payment on a studio… I've been training all my life, so I could easily get certified as a martial arts instructor in half a dozen disciplines." He started ticking off his fingers. "Karate, jujitsu, kickboxing, kendo…"

He stopped at the sight of Cam's lopsided grin. "What's so funny?"

"You've been giving this a lot of thought," the samurai said. "More than college."

Hunter just shrugged, but his own affirmative grin was answer enough for Cam.

"I don't need a college degree to open my own business," the blond ninja said, smirking before he inclined his head towards Cam. "And with you doing the books for me, nothing can go wrong."

Cam's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, so you've already decided that, huh? Me doing all the bookkeeping?"

"Can't let _your _college education go to waste." Hunter grinned. "So what do you say? We'd be partners in business as well as in real life."

Cam shook his head, but he couldn't hold back an amused snort. He had to admit that the idea was tempting. Nevertheless, he felt the need to play devil's advocate. "Going into business for ourselves...it's a pretty big risk."

"True, but if we don't at least give it a try, we might never know what success tastes like," was his boyfriend's prompt reply before he suddenly turned a bit more serious. "And there's another reason..."

_Ah, I knew there was more_, Cam thought. He raised a questioning eyebrow, silently waiting for Hunter to continue.

"I was thinking...our dojo could be the essential point of contact for possible new students of the Wind and Thunder academies," Hunter began, a little more hesitant, watching as if to gauge Cam's reaction. "We could be the underground railroad station, so to speak, for new recruits. Think about it; it would make screening for new admissions much easier, not to mention safer, since no one would even know where the schools are until they've already passed our security check-up."

Now it was Cam's turn to be silent, contemplating those possibilities. Finally, he looked up into Hunter's eyes. "It's not my place to make this decision, Hunter. That would be up to Dad and Sensei Omino," he said softly, but before the disappointment he saw sneaking into Hunter's eyes could cloud their beautiful blue, he quickly added, "But it's definitely something we can bring up at the next teacher's conference. Just let me sleep over it a few times so I can come up with some arguments they won't be able to counter."

Hunter broke out into a relieved smile that promptly turned suggestive a moment later. "Speaking of sleeping… " the blond ninja said, pulling Cam away from the window. "Come on, let's get back to bed and see if we can finally break it on our last night."

With an amused grin, Cam allowed himself to be steered towards the doomed bedstead, wondering if his father would charge them for willfully destroying academy property.

That worrisome thought dissolved like a puff of smoke, however, the moment Hunter's lips descended upon his mouth.

**THE END**

(X) See "Secret Demons"


End file.
